A federal judge rejected a plea agreement this morning under which former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca would have served up to six months in prison for lying to federal authorities, saying the punishment was not severe enough.
Addressing prosecutors and Mr. Baca in a downtown courtroom, U.S. District Court Judge Percy Anderson said the deal “would trivialize the seriousness of the offenses … the need for a just punishment, the need to deter others.”
Judge Anderson said he would allow Mr. Baca to withdraw his guilty plea and set a new hearing date for Aug. 1.
Mr. Baca must now choose among several unappealing options. He could go ahead with the sentencing and accept whatever punishment Judge Anderson has in mind. He could withdraw his guilty plea and take his chances with charges the government might decide to bring. Or he could negotiate a new deal with federal prosecutors for a longer sentence the judge would find more acceptable.
Mr. Baca’s attorney, Michael Zweiback, said he was disappointed with the judge’s decision but hoped to resume talks with prosecutors.
“I’m hopeful there’s still an opportunity to work something out,” he said. “That would be in my client’s best interest.”
Lightest Sentence
Mr. Baca, 74, had pleaded guilty this year to lying during an FBI investigation into allegations that his department had tried to block a federal inquiry into abusive deputies in the county jails. His plea was part of deal that would have seen him serve less time behind bars that than any of his subordinates — including his former No. 2, Paul Tanaka — received in related obstruction-of-justice cases.
Mr, Baca’s attorney argued that the former sheriff should not serve any prison time because he is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Prosecutors countered that Mt. Baca’s cognitive impairment is “slight,” and that he would receive adequate medical care in prison. A prison sentence for Mr. Baca would be a deterrent for other law enforcement officials, they wrote.
Mr. Baca, who retired in 2014 before completing his fourth term as the head of the nation’s largest sheriff’s department, won praise in office for establishing close relationships with local Muslim leaders and championing education for jail inmates.
But even as he introduced teachers and classrooms into the county jails, some of his deputies were brutally beating inmates and even a jail visitor. He adopted a hands-off management style, delegating many day-to-day decisions to powerful underlings, such as Mr. Tanaka.
In 2010, federal officials secretly launched an investigation into corruption and brutality by jail deputies. After sheriff’s officials discovered that an inmate, Anthony Brown, was an FBI informant, they booked him under false names and shuttled him to different locations. They also tangled with the FBI, going to the home of one agent and threatening her with arrest.
Prosecutors alleged that Mr. Tanaka directed the efforts to hide Mr. Brown from the FBI and intimidate the FBI agent, with Mr. Baca playing a lesser role.
By the time Mr. Baca pleaded guilty in February to a single count of lying to federal authorities, seven sheriff’s officials already had been convicted after going to trial in related cases, receiving sentences of a year and a half to more than three years in prison.
Mr. Tanaka was convicted by a jury in April and received a five-year sentence from Judge Anderson.
Prosecutors have said they agreed to six months for Mr. Baca in part because of his willingness to plead guilty. Mr. Tanaka’s attorney characterized the deal as “a sweetheart kiss.”
In his plea agreement, Mr. Baca admitted to lying in an April 12, 2013, interview with investigators, stating that he was not aware of the plan to confront the FBI agent at her home.
In fact, according to the agreement, Mr. Baca was at a meeting where officials came up with the plan, telling his subordinates that they “should do everything but put handcuffs” on her.
Mr. Baca was also involved in a conversation with subordinates about keeping Mr. Brown away from the FBI, though he said in the interview with federal investigators that he was not, the agreement said. He was aware that his subordinates had stopped FBI agents from questioning Mr. Brown, contrary to what he had said in the interview, according to the agreement.
In entering his guilty plea, Mr. Baca admitted only to lying about the visit to the FBI agent’s home while agreeing not to contest the prosecutors’ other allegations.
